Most people look to Google Maps to help navigate the present. For Brooklyn-based programmer and designer Justin Blinder, though, Google Maps is an apt device for understanding the past — and potentially…

While destinations and travel buddies matter, your choice in lodging can undeniably make or break any vacation. Just think about how much more fun you had in Mexico when the resort accidentally upgraded you to an executive suite, or how terrible of a time you had staying in that hostel without functional bathrooms. Luckily, we’ve searched the globe and compiled this list of eight of the world’s coolest hotels. From simple to extravagant, all-natural to modern, you’re bound to add these destinations to your bucket list.

Coolest Hotel #1: Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel in Alta

Carved into the snowy, white Norwegian landscape, the Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel is one of the world’s most unique and beautiful hotels. Constructed each fall almost entirely of ice and snow, this 30-room igloo hotel opens its doors to the public each January, housing guests until it melts away in the summer.

“Loving Vincent”: An Animated Film About The Life Of Vincent Van Gogh

The lopped off ear. The starry, starry night. While Vincent Van Gogh is often revered as the founder of modern art, little beyond the superficial is known about the post-impressionist master. Like, for instance, that Van Gogh only picked up the paintbrush eight years before his death, following a series of failed professional endeavors that even included preaching. Desirous of sharing Van Gogh’s story to a world moved by his movement-defined paintings, Academy Award-winning production company BreakThru Films has sifted through 800 of Van Gogh’s own letters and paintings, and hired a team of 70 painters to create oil canvases to bring his story to life in a way he would have preferred. Said Van Gogh in one letter, “The truth is, we cannot speak other than by our paintings”. When completed, “Loving Vincent” will be the first feature length film made solely through hand-painted canvases. Read more about this inspired project at This Is Colossal.

At first glance, Gabriel Dawe’s colorful thread installations look like rainbows that have been plucked from the sky and transported indoors. Only upon closer inspection can you see that the gigantic displays are made from thousands of brightly colored threads, intricately placed together to create a colorful illusion. The man behind the intriguing installations is Gabriel Dawe, a Dallas-based mixed media and installation artist whose work has been featured all over the world.